The Buzz

A concert at Ko Olina

Ka'ala Boys, Kapena, Sean Na'auao, Imua, Chant and Honolulu will perform at a concert titled "Kai Mele," part of the second annual Hawaii Boat Show & Ocean Expo at Ko Olina Resort & Marina. The concert, from 6 p.m. Saturday, is a benefit for the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and is the first such outdoor affair at Ko Olina. Concertgoers are advised to bring mats and towels or lawn chairs that sit six inches or less off the ground. No coolers or outside food. Gates open at 5 p.m. and there's free parking. Tickets are $20, available at 808 Wireless locations. 478-2985.

The boat show/expo — 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday through Monday — will offer displays, the latest accessories for nautical types, food and contests. Food booths will include temptations from Chai's Island Bistro, Pizza Hut, Niblick Restaurant, Island Fry Bread, 3 Brothers Pizza, Mr. Goodburger, Island Elements and H20asis. Admission to the expo is free with a $5 parking fee (part of the parking proceeds to benefit Ko Olina district Boy Scout troop and the West Hawai'i Civil Air Patrol). 254-3474 (hotline).

'Sunset' makes its way to 'Aiea/Pearl City

Last month it was Waipahu, this time it's 'Aiea/Pearl City as the city's "Sunset on the Beach" events take a break from Waikiki. The all-day "Sunset in the Park" — 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday and Monday — will include an open market of arts and crafts, services and products (nearly 100 vendors), food and films on a 30-foot screen.

The films are blockbusters. Sunday night's feature is "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," and if you don't know about last year's most anticipated movie based on the incredibly popular children's books, then ... you must have been under the spell of a dark magician. Monday's feature is "Pearl Harbor," which received mostly tepid reviews but has an almost irresistible attraction for Islanders, in whose back yard the wartime events occurred. Each film will be screened at 7 p.m.

The many neighborhood purveyors of food, drink and snacks offering their ware will include Dixie Grill, Elephant & Castle Restaurant, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Gyotaku Restaurant, Elena's, Pearl City Chinese Restaurant, JTY International, The Andagi Guy, Thai Mixed Plate, Ono Kettle Korn, Dave's Ice Cream, Aiea Manapua and Snacks, Aiea Taro Patch, Down to Earth Deli, Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Windy City Dog, Baldwin's Sweet Shop, Neptune Ice Bubble Tea and Albero Ristorante Italiano.

Entertainment begins at 11 a.m. and includes community and guest performers, radio station deejays and contests. Local bands (from 5 p.m.) include Brothers and Sisters, Tino and the Rhythm Klub, DisGuyz and J-Vill.

Park for free at Pearlridge Shopping Center, Aloha Stadium Kam Lot and Leeward Community College, then catch free trolleys at city bus stops along Kamehameha Highway to and from the park.

Whatever you do, don't show up on Saturday. This weekend's "Sunset" events moved over a day to accommodate 'Aiea High School's Saturday graduation. Admission is free. 523-2489.

Closing out the classical season

Spanish classical guitarist Pepe Romero and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra close the MasterWorks season with two concerts that pay tribute to the music of Spain. Romero's featured piece is Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez," about the site of the composer's honeymoon and of the royal palaces of Aranjuez. But the composition also has a tragic side: When Rodrigo and his wife Victoria were expecting their first child, she took ill, but survived; the baby did not. Rodrigo told this story to his friend Romero, who continues to perform the favored piece. Also on the program is Manuel de Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat," about a love triangle; and Dvorak's Symphony No. 7. Maestro Samuel Wong conducts. The concerts begin at 4 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Blaisdell Concert Hall; concert conversations take place an hour before each performance. Tickets are $15-$55. 792-2000.

A night of slack key, a night of jazz

Slack-key guitar virtuoso, recording artist and teacher Ozzie Kotani is bringing along guest artists for a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Hawai'i Public Radio's Atherton Performing Arts Studio. Among Kotani's guest performers will be his prized student, 11-year-old Danny Carvalho; and his teacher, Peter Medeiros. Kotani's latest recording is "To Honor A Queen: E Ho'ohiwahiwa I Ka Mo'i Wahine: The Music of Queen Lili'uokalani."

Also this weekend at Atherton is the debut of jazz pianist and recording artist Rob Prester, whose concert begins at 8 p.m. Sunday. He'll be joined by local musicians Steve Jones on bass, Tim Tsukiyama on saxophone and flute and Noel Okimoto on drums. Prester, who lives part time in Honolulu, is the regular keyboardist and pianist for the Honolulu Symphony Pops. Prester has worked with artists such as Branford Marsalis and Randy Brecker, and has appeared on the Phil Donahue show with Herbie Hancock and Grover Washington Jr. He will offer his original music at Sunday's concert.

Tickets to either concert are $15 general, $12.50 for HPR members, $10 students. Reservations: 955-8821.

GILLIOM

Break out the blankets, gather all the fixin's for a romantic picnic and head for the Kapi'olani Park bandstand for the next Aston Full Moon Concert, featuring headliner Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, right, Na Kane Nui, Baba B and Tino and the Rhythm Klub. And it's all under — what else? — well, a nearly-full moon (the full moon doesn't occur until Sunday). The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. today. It's free. 931-1400.

Planning ahead for the next one? Mark your calendars for 5:30 p.m. June 9, with headliner Kapena; it's in conjunction with the Pan-Pacific Festival Matsuri in Hawai'i.

A night of nostalgia

Island musical legend Auntie Genoa Keawe has been even busier than usual lately, what with the recent concert at the Hawai'i Theatre for a Hawaiian charter school and a couple of concerts in her honor before that, and now she's playing host to "A Night in Old Waikiki," part of the Na Mele O Hawai'i concert series at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Four generations of musical veterans will take part in the concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m. today. Tickets are $15. 532-8768.

Advertiser library photo

Sixteen boats from various canoe clubs will become eight catamarans to transport 1,000 lanterns at the fourth annual lantern-floating ceremony, 6 p.m. Monday night at Magic Island, Ala Moana Beach Park. In the tradition of Shinnyo-En, the sponsoring Buddhist order, the lanterns guide the souls of the dead over the "ocean of suffering" to the world of spiritual comfort. About 4,000 visitors from Japan will join the 1,000 members of Shinnyo-En. The public, too, is welcome to attend. Music, including taiko drumming, will be part of the ceremony, but no food or drinks. Consolatory prayer requests may be made 3-5:30 p.m. Admission is free. 947-2814.